01
I run a veterinary clinic called .
Most of my patients are cats and dogs.
In my spare time, I also help the stray cats and dogs around here.
Of course, I don't treat them for free.
The little ones I treat usually have to pay a very steep price.
Spaying and neutering.
I thought that after being spayed or neutered, they'd come to hate my clinic—and me.
But instead, more and more former patients kept coming back, and new ones kept showing up.
Lately, even healthy cats and dogs have been hanging around the clinic.
A few have even started secretly following me on my way home.
I suspected they were planning to gang up and take their revenge on me.
But when I looked closely, there wasn't a trace of malice in those big, clear eyes.
Their strange behavior was truly baffling.
2
At dinner, I suddenly noticed a strange app on my phone.
The app's name was a jumble of random characters, and its icon was an animal paw print.
It looked like a scam app.
But my anti-scam app didn't warn me about any danger.
Curiosity and caution wrestled for a while, but curiosity won in the end.
What could a dead-broke person like me possibly have that anyone would want to scam me out of?
Putting my worries aside, I opened the app and found a forum.
The posts on the forum were all kinds of bizarre:
“Warning: Someone's been scattering poison bait in the park by the lake. Be careful!”
“Successfully infiltrated the university. From now on, I'm a Cat among Cats!”
“Day 67 of sticking with my poop-quit plan!”
…
It didn't look like a human had posted them.
Even AI couldn't come up with stuff like this.
Based on the keywords in the titles, I had a theory—
These posts were probably written by the cats and dogs.
I kept scrolling, trying to confirm my theory.
“The cat I hate most got lucky and was adopted by a human. I'm so jealous I could die!”
“Which punk dared to pee on my turf? Just you wait till I catch you!”
“A guide to enjoying the most purr-fect poop.”
…
I knew it.
Every single user on this forum was a cat or a dog.
Because no human could possibly write something like “A Guide to Enjoying the Most Purr-fect Poop.”
Remembering that my dinner was still unfinished, I decided to skip past the weirder posts and refresh the page.
Right away, a post appeared, freshly uploaded by the admin:
“Recruiting members for the Cat-Dog Escort Squad today!”
The comments below it:
Scarred Swordsman: “My adoptive mom's getting off work. Who's picking her up?”
Meow-Meow Martial King: “I'm done with mercenary work. I'll pick her up.”
Poop-Hunting Ambassador: “Calling off the treasure hunt. I'll pick her up.”
Know what a dog's treasure is? =))))
Green Rice Cracker: “Putting my date on hold. I'll pick her up.”
Cheese Sandwich: “Calling off the mouse hunt. I'll pick her up.”
…
After dinner, I stepped outside and saw the cats and dogs lined up neatly.
Organized and disciplined.
Every one of them stood with its chest puffed out and head held high, wearing a serious expression.
The more serious they were, the cuter they looked.
A thought flashed through my mind—
Could this really be… an escort squad?
03
My home wasn't far from the veterinary clinic, just a seven-minute walk.
On the way home, the cats and dogs accompanying me were clearly well trained. They took up positions in front, behind, to my left and right, keeping just the right distance.
Maybe joining that mysterious forum had somehow let me understand what they were saying.
“Stinky-Sweet, slow down a little. Your adoptive mom's tired after work; she can't walk that fast.”
The scruffy little dog in front immediately slowed down.
“But don't walk too close, either. It'll look too obvious.”
The scruffy dog Thunderous Little Fury snapped irritably, “Orange Chub, what the hell do you want? Do you have a problem with me again?”
The atmosphere grew tense, and the other members hurried to smooth things over. “Come on, come on. The mission comes first. It's the code of the streets—we have to keep the peace in front of our adoptive mom.”
Two cold snorts rang out at the same time. “For our adoptive mom's sake, I won't bother with you.”
…
From the sound of it, they were all gangland cats and dogs.
They had their own world, their own grudges, rivalries, and romances.
Until now, I'd thought they just came looking for food.
Only today did I learn that they had a mission to protect me.
And somehow, in their eyes, I'd become the “Boss of the Underworld”?
04
I usually went to bed early, but tonight I made an exception and stayed up late.
Mainly because the posts on the forum were so entertaining.
There were plans to fight, turf wars, love scandals…
Every post was funny, and every post was full of drama.
For example, two packs of dogs traveled thousands of miles to fight each other, only to discover that one of them had a close friend in the rival pack. After a long negotiation and reconciliation, they finally dragged themselves all the way back without throwing a single punch—and ended up sore all over.
Or a group of male cats fought tooth and claw over a calico, only to discover in the end that the calico was a male, too.
…
As I scrolled back, I noticed my name came up quite a lot.
“Woof, woof? Has anyone ever dealt with the person in white? Can they be trusted?”
Thread starter: “I heard there's a person in white in the house on the corner who can snatch lives back from the Reaper. All you have to do is give up your OO*, and you'll be safe for the rest of your life. Is it true?”
*Your balls, lol =))))
Reply 1: “Absolutely true, bro. The boss is incredible at what she does. Ask away—everyone's got nothing but praise.”
Reply 2: “Watch your mouth. That's no person in white—she's a goddess in white!”
Reply 3: “What goddess? It's obvious you're not one of us. We all call her our adoptive mom!”
Reply 4: “Come on, all we did was give up our ability to reproduce. Strays like us can't raise kids anyway. Staying alive matters more!”
Reply 5: “After the procedure, our adoptive mom even kept us around for a while and cared for us like our real mom. It was so heartwarming! Too bad our OO can't grow back, or we could do it again!”
…
The more I scrolled, the more posts like that I found.
It turned out that, in their eyes, an ordinary person like me was practically a goddess.
One flowery compliment after another left my head spinning.
Basking in all that praise, I drifted off to sleep.
In my dream, a whole pack of cats and dogs lined up and pressed their paws together in a bow to me:
“The red lights and green wine make me drunk; thanks to my adoptive mom, I can run wild in the underworld!”
05
Damn it, I slept through my alarm!
When I opened my eyes, it was almost noon.
I jumped up and hurried to the veterinary clinic.
What if a stray got hurt while I was away?
Wouldn’t I be letting down every stray cat and dog?
After a night of scrolling through the forum and that wonderful dream, I had fully embraced my noble mission.
After all, I was their adoptive mom.
As soon as I stepped out of the residential complex, I spotted a few cats and dogs nervously peeking around.
The moment they saw me, their eyes lit up:
“Mom’s out! Go let everyone know they don’t need to worry anymore!”
“Get ready to escort Mom to work. We’ll make sure the mission is a success!”
…
So that was why all the strays had been worried about me when I didn’t show up that morning.
A warm feeling welled up inside me.
I quickly headed toward the clinic.
I hadn’t gone far when I spotted a familiar figure.
It was a regular at the clinic—Little Cat’s mom.
Her eyes were red and puffy, and she looked frantic, clutching a thick stack of flyers.
When she saw me, she choked out:
“Dr. Lin, have you seen my Little Cat?”
“I woke up this morning and it was gone.”
“I’ve been searching all morning and can’t find it. I think it’s abandoned me…”
The flyer showed a gray tabby kitten.
I remembered this cat very clearly.
It wore a little name tag and was a house cat, but often sneaked out to play with the strays.
It was incredibly quick-witted—surprisingly clever.
How could it have suddenly gone missing?
I patted Little Cat’s mom on the shoulder to comfort her:
“Little Cat’s very smart. Maybe it’ll find its way home on its own in a little while.”
Then I posted a missing-cat notice on my social media page.
Suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind—
The cats-and-dogs forum!
Maybe I could post a notice about the missing cat there?